Knowledge representation automation for functional tests and schedules (KRAFTS)

The development of functional test programs for electronic circuit designs is a complex and time consuming task for the human expert. The system discussed is a prototype expert system known as KRAFTS (Knowledge Representation Automaton for Functional Tests and Schedules), developed as part of a PhD research project. The project endeavours to capture, in an expert systems environment, the methodology of the test engineer. It formalises and emulates the processes carried out when producing functional test programs. The expert system has successfully employed the techniques and device characteristics used by the test engineers to develop functional test programmes. The expert system avoids the computationally explosive paradigm of decomposing the electronic components into gate and register level descriptions called for by the majority of other test generation systems. The concentration on the relationship between circuit, component operations and the identification of normal behaviour is another important concept in the generation of tests for this system